Science/Nature

Image copyright Frank BienewaldImage caption Most of the dead bodies of mountaineers have appeared on the Khumbu Glacier Expedition operators are concerned at the number of climbers’ bodies that are becoming exposed on Mount Everest as its glaciers melt. Nearly 300 mountaineers have died on the peak since the first ascent attempt and two-thirds of […]

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media captionIan Warhurst: “My kids kept saying I should buy a fast car, so I bought the fastest” The Bloodhound supersonic car is back, under new management and preparing to renew its pursuit of the land speed record. The project went into administration last year, unable to secure […]

Image copyright Science Photo LibraryImage caption Rogue waves are a growing threat for the global shipping industry Rogue waves – huge swells that can appear from calm seas – are occurring less often but becoming more extreme, data from the US coast suggests. In the largest study of its kind, scientists analysed 20 years of […]

Image copyright Getty ImagesImage caption Thousands flooded the town of Lake Elsinore to see the wild poppies on display A Southern California town was forced to temporarily ban tourists from visiting a golden poppy “super bloom” after they caused a safety nightmare. Lake Elsinore officials on Sunday closed Walker Canyon, citing a “public safety crisis” […]

Image copyright NAtional TrustImage caption Familiar songbirds like the nuthatch may be building nests at this time of year Hopping birds seemed a thrill of pleasure to William Wordsworth, while trees’ greenness was “a kind of grief” for Philip Larkin. Poets and writers have been capturing the arrival of spring for centuries. On this – […]

Image copyright Jan DunbarImage caption Jan Dunbar’s artist impression of the Neolithic “mortuary” Archaeologists hope to carry out a fresh dig at what they believe could be the site of a 5,500-year-old “mortuary” in Aberdeenshire. The Neolithic enclosure in what is now Aden Country Park may have been used for excarnation, the removal of flesh […]

Image copyright JAXA, Uni Tokyo & collaboratorsImage caption The asteroid 162173 Ryugu consists of material blasted off another asteroid The asteroid being explored by the Japanese mission Hayabusa-2 is a “rubble pile” formed when rocks were blasted off a bigger asteroid and came back together again. The discovery means that asteroid Ryugu has a parent […]

Image copyright SPL Hen harriers are disappearing on English grouse moors due to illegal killing, according to a scientific study. The birds of prey are one of England’s rarest birds, and a protected species. Data gathered over a decade found satellite-tagged hen harriers were ten times more likely to die or vanish when they were […]

Image copyright NASA/JHU-APL/SWRIImage caption Ultima Thule is the most distant object to be explored by a spacecraft Scientists are getting closer to understanding how the distant object known as Ultima Thule came to be. Nasa’s New Horizons spacecraft flew by the 35km-long world on 1 January at a distance of 3,500km. It’s made up of […]

Image copyright PAImage caption Low water levels at Wayoh Reservoir near Bolton in the UK heatwave in July 2018 Within 25 years England will not have enough water to meet demand, the head of the Environment Agency is warning. The impact of climate change, combined with population growth, means the country is facing an “existential […]

Image copyright kishore kumarImage caption The mathematics of bubbles hold the key to some of the greatest mysteries in physics One of the highest prizes for mathematics has been awarded to Prof Karen Uhlenbeck of the University of Texas in Austin, US. Prof Uhlenbeck received the Abel Prize for her work on “minimal surfaces” such […]

Image copyright Getty ImagesImage caption Prof Jocelyn Bell Burnell donated her prize money to help others follow in her footsteps The Institute of Physics is launching a bursary scheme to help female and black students to become physics researchers. The scheme is funded by one of the world’s leading astronomers, Prof Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell. […]